Miyagishima had initially planned to challenge former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman for the Democratic nomination, but was unable to obtain the necessary signatures. He switched to running as an independent in hopes of making the Nov. 3 ballot, but was similarly unable to collect enough signatures. He subsequently lost a lawsuit challenging the state’s ballot access requirements.
Although he initially ran as a Democrat, on the campaign trail, Miyagishima often billed himself as a centrist and said he planned to use “policies from all parties.”
“I have known Mayor Hull for almost 12 years. He is intelligent, hardworking and a man of integrity,” Miyagishima wrote in a statement announcing his departure from the race and endorsement. “His record reflects his dedication to the people of both Rio Rancho and New Mexico.”
While the two spent much of their political careers in opposing parties, they share a mayoral distinction – Miyagishima and Hull were the longest-serving mayors of Las Cruces and Rio Rancho, the state’s second- and third-largest cities, respectively.
Hull previously told Source NM he believed his experience as a mayor, which is a non-partisan office, marked a meaningful difference between him and other gubernatorial candidates.
His campaign sent a fundraising email to his supporters over the weekend with the subject line: “A Democrat mayor just endorsed me.”
“Ken and I did not enter this race from the same political party. We served different cities in different parts of our state,” Hull wrote in the email. “Yet as mayors, we faced many of the same challenges, and we learned that potholes are not Republican or Democratic, public safety is not a partisan issue and creating good jobs should never take a back seat to political games.”
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